Keystone presents Waterloo World 2013

by Brent Thornhill, Office of Advancement.

Spring has finally sprung, and the Keystone Campaign annual picnic is just around the corner! The picnic takes place Friday, June 7^th on the Davis Centre Quad from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Lunch will be served from 11:45 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Organized by the Office of Advancement and Keystone volunteers, the event is a celebration of our campus community and the many contributions of time and financial resources made by our faculty, staff and retirees.  

Event co-chairs Jane Kolb and Sandra Rivers are reviving last year’s “Waterloo World” theme, aimed at celebrating the cultural diversity of our campuses. There will be live entertainment and various cultural booths highlighting Waterloo’s international spirit.

“Waterloo World was such a hit last year,” explains Sandra. “We are thrilled to bring it back! We still have room for additional booths if anyone is interested in showcasing their cultural traditions.”

“The picnic will be very interactive,” says Jane. “We’re encouraging everyone to participate in the performances, mix and mingle with colleagues and perfect their throwing skills at the dunk tank!”

All of the campus community is invited to attend and experience different cultures of the world! So come out and enjoy a free lunch and dessert along with other goodies such as popcorn and the chance to win prizes.

New this year, Twitter users are encouraged to tweet their experiences and photos from the picnic using #keystonepicnic13.

A corresponding celebration will be held for evening staff on Friday, June 7^th from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the Student Life Centre.

For more information about the picnic, visit our website or contact this year’s event co-chairs Jane Kolb and Sandra Rivers. We hope to see everyone there!

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Mental Health resources across campus

by Mark Beadle, Director, Campus Wellness

It’s Mental Health Week in Canada.  The University of Waterloo provides resources and support to our students, staff, and faculty that promote health and wellbeing.  We know that 1 in 5 people will be affected by mental illness in their lifetime.  Here at the University of Waterloo we are a caring community and a safe place to ask for help.  If you need help, we have the resources to help you.

Last term we partnered with student groups to deliver a 6-week program of events and education about mental health and wellness.  A group of students represented the University at Unleash The Noise, a student mental health innovation conference in Toronto.   We opened the new Student Health Clinic that includes an entire floor dedicated to mental health assessment, treatment, and wellness promotion. 

This term we are continuing our efforts to provide timely, quality, comprehensive services for students, staff, and faculty with renewed emphasis on wellness and health promotion.  We have also engaged valuable community resources including the start of a student-specific “Skills for Safer Living” support group through the Self Help Alliance of the Canadian Mental Health Association.

If you or someone you know needs help, you can help by encouraging them to access the resources we have on campus.  Learn about our services online.

“Mental health is an essential part of your overall health. Just as physical fitness helps your body to stay strong, mental fitness helps you maintain a state of good mental health. Mental health is more than just the absence of mental illness. It’s a state of well-being.” 

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A raft of staff retirees

Human Resources is reporting that the following staff members retired as of April 1, 2013:

• Harry Blizzard, who started at the university in May 1981, and worked as Supervisor, Stores and Equipment in IST;
• June Low, who started at the university in July 1970 and retired as Senior Demonstrator in the Engineering Undergraduate Office;
• Katherine LaHay, who began working in September 1981, retiring as Instructor in Earth and Environmental Sciences;
• Karel Skopec, who started working at the university in March 2003, retires as Custodian I in Plant Operations; and
• Maria Cafengiu, who began working on campus in October 2007, retired as General Cafeteria Help - Food Services.

The following staff members retired as of May 1, 2013:

• Richard Roach, who started at the university in January 1983 and retired as Deputy Director, Co-op at Waterloo International (on secondment from Co-operative Education and Career Action);
• Connie Reading, who began working on campus in January 1994, retires as Assistant Manager, Maintenance, in Housing and Residences;
• Susan Routliffe, who started at the university in December 1979, retiring as Associate University Librarian, Info Resources & Academic Excellence;
• Patrick Tyrrell who started on campus in September 1988, retiring as an Electrician in Plant Operations;
• Rita Wiebe, who began working on campus in June 1980, retired as Manager of the Math Coffee and Donut Shop;
• Maria Lango, whose start date was February 1989, retired as Study Abroad Manager in the Office of Research;
• Marilyn Perdue, who started at the university in January 2005, retires as Counsellor in Counselling Services;
• Catherine Mitchell, who began work on campus in June 1984, retires as Administrative Assistant in Police Services; and
• Susan Mavor, who has been with the university since February 1986, and who retires as Head of Special Collections at the Library.

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Second town hall today and other notes

The second of two Town Hall meetings organized to discuss the university's draft strategic plan will take place today from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Humanities Theatre. The event, like the one that took place yesterday, will be livestreamed.There are many ways to ask questions of the President and Provost at today's event: by attending the meeting in person to ask your question, by sending your question in via email to the townhall@uwaterloo.ca address, which will be checked both before and during the event, and by tweeting your questions to @uWaterlooLIVE or by using the hashtag #uwth. In addition, the final draft of the strategic plan (PDF), which will be the document under discussion at the meeting, has been posted to the strategic plan website.

Tonight at 7:00 p.m. The Office of Alumni Affairs will be screening The Cola Road, a new documentary featuring the work of AHS alumnus alumnus Rohit Ramchandani (BSc ’04), the founder and principal at Antara Global Health Advisors, Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) candidate at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and an adjunct faculty member in the School of Public Health and Health Systems at uWaterloo.

Information Systems and Technology (IST) is unveiling the uWaterloo Connect IT blog. as a vehicle for keeping up to date with IT developments on campus. As IST communications officer Natasha Jennings puts it, "Each week we’ll post about an element of IT on campus, what we’ve heard from you through the IT Strategic Plan process, and what we’re working on now in that area. While the initial focus will be the IT Strategic Plan, other IT related topics/issues may be blogged about. Using your WatIAM ID, you’ll be able to login to comment and share your feedback."

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